It is the hottest place on the surface of planet Earth with summer temperatures routinely recorded at well over 120 degrees Fahrenheit. In all my travels over the years it is the ONE place I never had a desire to visit since extreme temps are not my joy in life. However, when someone from our group of buddies with whom we annually travel to Vegas in late November/early December suggested seeing Death Valley and after learning that November temps in the Valley range from a low of 48 degrees to the high 70s, we agreed to give it a go.
At 8 a.m. on Sunday morning, November 28th, the seven of us on this year’s jaunt loaded into our 12-passenger rental van and headed south out of Vegas. The city is always insanely busy on weekends, so we traditionally try to venture out of Vegas on Saturday/Sunday to see new sites and avoid the crowds. Driving south out of Vegas on I-15 we turned west on Blue Diamond Road, also known as Nevada Rt. 160. We passed through Pahrump where we stopped for a bite to eat, then continued to West Bell Vista Ave where we made a left turn. This road becomes State Line Road at the California border and ends at Death Valley Junction, a tiny burg at the crossroads of St. Rt 127 and 190. A right on 190 and we soon entered the National Park.
Death Valley National Park encompasses more than 3 million acres and sits along the California/Nevada border in the middle of the Mohave Desert. It is a land of extremes, boasting the lowest point in the USA (at Badwater Basin, 282 ft. below sea level), to amazing mountains like Telescope Peak sitting at over 11,000 feet above Death Valley. The record for the highest temperature ever recorded on Earth belongs to Furnace Creek Valley in the National Park where it hit 134 degrees Fahrenheit on July 10, 1913. This past summer (2021) the temperature was recorded there at 128 degrees, the hottest since 2017. Death Valley’s average annual rainfall is less than 2 inches, far below the 5 inches that most deserts of the world record. Cell phone service in this area is minimal to non-existent.
Getting around within the park was easy. The roads are well maintained and observation points are easily accessed. Just before Furnace Creek, which is the heart of the park and home to the Visitor Center and gift shop, we stopped at Zabriskie Point where a short upward hike brings you to a series of overlooks giving amazing views of Twenty Mule Team Canyon. In the early 1900s borax, gold, silver, talc, and tungsten were mined here and hauled across the hot desert floor using mule teams pulling the much sought after minerals in huge wagons. Just 10 minutes further up the road after a turn left you can take a 9-mile one-way drive at Artists Drive, a scenic loop that takes you among colorful hills. Another 5 minutes down the road you will find Badwater Basin, the aforementioned lowest point in the continental U.S.
Drive a bit further (about an hour) to experience Dante’s View where a new viewing platform built in 2018 affords even those in wheelchairs breathtaking views from 5,000 feet in elevation. Within the National Park there are sand dunes you can walk on when the sand is cool enough and several old historic gold mines and borax mines that originally drew settlers to this area. Tours are available at 20 Mule Team Canyon, Harmony Borax Works, and the Keane Wonder Mine. Volcanic craters abound along with canyons to explore. Not for the faint of heart, if you have a high clearance vehicle you can venture to the highest point in Death Valley, Telescope Peak sitting at 11,049 feet but beware in the winter when ice often closes this gravel road. On the day we visited, the temperature at Furnace Creek visitor center registered a very pleasant 70 degrees.
We were all surprised at the beauty and diversity of Death Valley National Park. With days so short at this time of year and such a vast amount of land encompassing the Park, we had a very limited amount of time for viewing its beauty, but we were so glad for the chance to see a part of it. Much to our delight, we also discovered that there are areas of green nestled among the arid desert here. The Inn At Death Valley located near the Visitor Center is a 5-star resort surrounded by a golf course, a small air strip, restaurants, tennis courts, an elegant pool, and lush green lawns. Situated only ¼ mile from Furnace Creek, the Inn was built in 1927 by the Pacific Coast Borax Company to entice visitors to the area. Now privately owned, the 66 guestrooms are accessible to the public but are a little pricey with rooms starting at about $439/night. For a bit less money you have the option of choosing The Ranch At Death Valley-Inside The Park, another independently owned hotel with 244 guest rooms, a nice pool, access to golf, and good amenities for a smaller price tag (about half the cost per night) but within easy driving to all the sites of the National Park.
Heading back toward Vegas in the afternoon we continued on Rt. 190 to Hells Gate where we turned northeast on Daylight Pass Road. Nineteen miles later we passed the Rhyolite Ghost Town and made a quick stop at the little town of Beatty. Here, at the Death Valley Nut & Candy Company, we strolled through rows and rows of every kind of candy you can imagine and stocked up on our favorites to take with us. At about dark after traveling 308 miles, we arrived back into the Red Rock area of Vegas where we had a nice meal to end our adventure. The day had been well worth the effort as the sites were beautiful, the roads easy, and the company as fun as ever.
This trip was taken November 28, 2021, by Larry and Deb Sidener, Mike and Cathy Lehman, Ben and Teresa Hefner and Debbie Trent.
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